South Korea’s Yoon to face major hurdles in expanding agenda within emerging US-led blocs after election defeat
- Yoon Suk-yeol’s ruling party garnered 108 seats, trailing the liberal Democratic Party of Korea’s comfortable majority of 175 spots in the 300-strong parliament
- While he is not expected to pivot from his tough stance on China, Yoon could face heightened scrutiny from a hostile legislature over his diplomatic policies
Yoon’s ruling People Power Party garnered 108 seats, trailing far behind the liberal Democratic Party of Korea which secured a comfortable majority with 175 seats in the 300-strong parliament. Voter turnout was 67 per cent, the highest in 32 years.
The splinter liberal Rebuild Korea Party bagged 12 seats, emerging as the third-largest entity in the National Assembly since its creation last month with a call for swift corruption and power abuse probes into the Yoon administration.
With a hostile parliament now armed with a new mandate, analysts expect formidable hurdles for Yoon in implementing his presumed pro-market reforms in labour, national pension fund and education.
While Yoon retains presidential executive orders and veto powers to navigate an opposition-controlled parliament, his electoral defeat undermines his authority within the administration and diminishes his influence over lawmakers from his party, according to observers.